Retail gasoline prices have moved higher against a backdrop of increased crude oil prices. A year ago, crude oil traded at $49 a barrel and gas prices averaged $1.792--49 cents lower than the current average of $2.283. This week, crude hovers around $66 a barrel. |
Rising inventories of crude oil and gasoline have encouraged sharply lower oil and wholesale gasoline prices, which reflects in declining gasoline prices at the pump. Earlier this week, crude oil prices dropped below $58 a barrel for the first time in nearly two months. |
That is far more than we would expect given their rate of licensure. |
The AAA believes that people should be able to keep driving as long as they want to -- if they can do so safely. We need to move past the myth that an older driver is automatically an unsafe driver; it's not true. |
The jump in retail gas prices is partly due to the seasonal production switch from winter to summer grade gasoline, which usually brings higher prices as output is temporarily reduced. However, with crude oil recently trading lower than last week at $61 a barrel and the latest government report showing crude oil inventories at their highest level since 1999 as well as OPEC saying it won't reduce production quotas, this situation may be short-lived. |
The jump in retail gas prices is partly due to the seasonal production switch from winter- to summer-grade gasoline, which usually brings higher prices as output is temporarily reduced. |
The price of gasoline at the wholesale level declined sharply last week and there continues to be downward pressure on gas in Texas. Motorists may be in for a few weeks of slightly lower prices. But toward the end of the month, it's likely that pump prices will resume an upward arc. |
The trend may continue as strong demand combined with uncertainties about gas and ethanol supplies in the coming weeks may keep prices on their upward course. |
These documents are often marketed as a way for people to drive without obtaining a valid license, or to continue driving if their government-issued license has been suspended or revoked, or as a way to avoid driver's education. |
These recent decreases at the pumps are more likely to be temporary. The U.S. concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions and violence in Nigeria have kept the price of crude above $65 a barrel -- a level not seen since the hurricanes of 2005. If crude continues to stay at this level, motorists will continue to pay high prices at the pumps. |
This is the time of year when steep price increases are common, but this year, there is added uncertainty about whether there will be sufficient gasoline supplies later in the year. It may be several weeks before the picture of the nation's production becomes clear, but in the meantime, motorists may experience steadily rising pump prices. |
We may see prices even higher because of the hurricane. I don't think we've seen the end of record crude prices. |
We're advising motorists not to top-off their tanks. With the price of gasoline escalating, motorists can conserve gas by making sure their vehicle is routinely maintained, consolidating trips, car pooling, using mass transit and for short trips try bicycling or walking. |
We've heard of increases in Texas as high as 50 cents a gallon overnight following Hurricane Katrina. |
What I'm hearing is that more and more we are topping the $3 a gallon mark in Texas. |